


I Don't Want You To Stop

by rebelmeg



Series: Rebelmeg's Pepperony Bingo 2020 [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, Coping, F/M, Fluff and Feels, Insomnia, Protective Pepper Potts, Rescue, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony and Pepper are Peak Relationship Goals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23802460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/pseuds/rebelmeg
Summary: Pepper finds Tony making something when he can't sleep.For my Pepperony Bingo square B2: mid-Endgame
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Rebelmeg's Pepperony Bingo 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664317
Comments: 21
Kudos: 89





	I Don't Want You To Stop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [remreader](https://archiveofourown.org/users/remreader/gifts).



> So about seven hundred years ago, I took some writing prompts on Tumblr. And this is the last one! The prompt was "I don't want you to stop." Thankfully, my Rem is a very patient soul and didn't mind waiting an eternity for me to finally finish. *Blows kisses*
> 
> And thank you to HogwartsToAlexandria for being my wonderful beta!

Pepper caught her husband by surprise when she came into the den around one in the morning, having just woken up alone. She knew because he jumped when she quietly asked, “What’s that?”

The armor that the holotable had been projecting was distinctly feminine, and with an opposite color scheme to the one Tony usually wore. She only saw it for a moment before he was turning around and waving it away, looking startled.

“Hey, what are you doing up?” He asked, his voice soft even as she could plainly see the slight panic on his face.

“Woke up without you.” Pepper replied simply. It happened sometimes, often enough that she knew where to look for him, and whether or not she’d be able to coax him back to bed. She glanced at the place where the hologram had been hovering, the brief look she’d gotten still etched in her mind, then she shifted her gaze to her husband. “Tony—” 

“I’m sorry.” He said immediately, and she could see the storm of emotions on his face, as well as in his body language. “I’ll stop. I promise.” He was nervous and guilty and contrite and sad and sincere and worried, and a hundred other things, all at the same time. His hands were twitching, the hologram pen in his hand shifting between his fingers as his feet shuffled and he managed to step back without seeming to as she approached him.

“Tony.” Pepper reached out, capturing his face in her palms like a butterfly, before he had a chance to nervously flit away. His eyes met hers, and she could see the anxiety rising in them. She smiled a little, hoping to soothe it away while she stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. She knew him so well now. Better even than she knew herself sometimes. She knew where his deepest, darkest fears lived, and all the ways, both healthy and not, that he found to cope with them. “Honey, I don’t want you to stop.”

“What?” His surprise was obvious, those beautiful brown eyes she loved going wide, the laugh lines at the corners almost smoothing out.

She glanced over at the dark holotable so he’d understand exactly what she was saying. “I don’t want you to stop. I want you to keep going. It will make you feel better, right? Like I’m safe?”

Looking like he was waiting for the gotcha, Tony nodded hesitantly, his hands coming up to hold on to her wrists as she still cupped his face in her hands.

“Then don’t stop. Make it for me. Talk to me about it. Because it’s okay, honey. Just don’t lose yourself in it again, alright?”

Relief was warring with determination on his face, and he clutched at her wrists almost desperately. “I won’t. I promise.”

“I know.” Leaning in, Pepper kissed him, long enough that she heard him sigh, felt him kiss her back, sensed him finally relaxing. “Think you can sleep again? Or not yet?”

There was another flicker of guilt, but she could see him working through it as he slowly shook his head. “Not yet. Soon, though, I hope.”

“Okay. You want some company? I can make hot chocolate.”

Finally, Tony smiled. “Yeah. I could go for that.”

“Come help me,” Pepper said, smiling back and taking his hand, turning towards the kitchen. “You can tell me about the suit.”

He followed her, holding her hand, and she could tell his silence was a thinking silence before he said, “Hey Pep?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. I love you.”

She gave his hand a squeeze and made sure to look him right in the eye so he could see every nuance of love and truth in her eyes. “You’re welcome. I love you too.”


End file.
